Wednesday, March 29, 2017

While making the media rounds to promote his new book Old School: Life in the Sane Lane (2017 Holt 192 p.) , Fox News host Bill O'Reilly made a morning appearance on Fox and Friends. Instead of simply promoting his new publication, O'Reilly riffed on the news of the day.In reaction to strident one minute speech to an empty House chamber by Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA 43rd), Bill O'Reilly playfully pontificated that Water's wig was the same type as the Godfather of Soul James Brown. Rep. Waters defiantly declared that the 79 year old she would not be intimidated by Bill O'Reilly. Following her lead, liberals on social media collectively flipped their wigs over this jest as being absolutely out of bounds. In fact, CNN and the Daily Beast to denounce the barb as being overt racism. Really? Good gawd, y'all!Being a smart businessman who wanted to sell more books during the publican week blitz, O'Reilly factored in the outrage and quickly apologized for the dumb joke. In assessing these troubled waters over this wise crack, it is worth wondering whether such cyber social justice warriors would react the same way if the proverbial shoe was on the other foot. Were progressives piqued when the President of the United States was compared to a monkey? Of course not, because that was President George W. Bush.

"Most of you knew me long before anyone called me Darth Vader. I've been asked if that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently."

Democrats seem to think that the Resistance is one of the keys to victory in 2018 and winning the White House in 2020. Democrats act as if demonizing any opposition is sine qua non to their success. In addition, their base is constantly whipped into a frenzy to oppose the Trump Administration and anyone who opposes their politically correct perspectives. That ire is difficult to sustain for long periods of time. Moreover, keying off of a puckish throw away comment about stage similarities lowers the shock value of charges of racism.

The Resistance plan for Democrats in the District of Calamity seems to be the Soros inspired discredit your opponents to dictate the political agenda.

While talk about the impeachment of President Trump has temporarily waned among most elected officials, there is a full court press to besmirch Trump advisers and allies in Washington by implicating them as untrustworthy due to the supposed Russian interference with the 2012 General Election of Mr. Trump. Currently, this is culminating on a call for and independent counsel to investigate the charges which intelligence chiefs have already dismissed.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took the lead in casting doubt about House Intelligence Select Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA 22), who went to the White House to brief the Administration there was incidental surveillance of the Trump family and Trump transition staff and American names had been improperly unmasked and leaked. Schumer was upset that Intelligence Chairman Nunes did not go to his Democrat Intelligence Minority Leader Adam Schiff (D-CA 28th) first, thus the accusation that Nunes is in the pocket of President Trump and must step aside.

Even though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has reiterated his intent to invoke a filibuster on the cloture vote for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, not all of his colleagues are on board. Veteran Senator Patrick Leahy, who offered vigorous invigilation during Gorsuch's Senate Judiciary Committee appearance, indicated that he is not inclined to filibuster the nominee.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Instant analysis by Professor Alan Dershowitz on the instant decision by a 9th Circuit Court Judge in Hawaii who produced a 43 page decision two hours after hearing the case.

Judge Watson cited reports by CNN's Anderson Cooper in rendering his opinion to impose a second injunction against the implementation of the Trump Administration's immigration hold from six countries which have sketchy passport vetting procedures and experience problems with terrorists.

Despite the Trump Administration amending their original "Travel Ban" to exclude Iraq, accommodate those who already hold green cards and took away language which seemingly privileged beleaguered Christian minorities in the Middle East, Judge Watson struck down the Trump Immigration order, because of statements of candidate Trump on the stump and the allegation that it is still a Muslim ban. It is dubious if the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will overturn this idiosyncratic legal opinion. Maybe Thomas Sowell was right about how the Ninth Circuit may eventually rule the Constitution as unconstitutional

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Now that they are relegated to minority political status in the District of Calamity, the progressive wing of the Democrat party feel free to impose purity tests and try to effectively take over the party.

One of the litmus tests for a Senate Democrat to show their loyalty towards liberalism is to oppose President Trump's choice for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Senate Democrats may stew over a "stolen" SCOTUS pick, because the Senate Majority in the 114th Congress refused to hold hearings and scuttled former President Obama's lame duck Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland. This Senate Advice and Consent through inaction followed a 70 year precedent of not confirming SCOTUS picks in the last year of an Administration so as to let voters decide.

However some Democrats are so obstreperous that they will not meet with Judge Gorsuch, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Those who consented to meet Judge Gorsuch have been charmed by him and his impeccable legal credentials.

Liberal advocacy groups like Credo Action felt emboldened by Schumer's antipathy approach thus they warned wavering Senate Democrats that if they so much even consented to a Cloture vote for Judge Gorsuch that they will face primary opposition in the 2018 cycle.

So Democrats opposed Republicans effectively filibustering Garland through a no vote yet they want to do the same thing to Judge Gorsuch. As Chris Plante is wont to say, if it wasn't for double standards, liberals would not have any at all. Ironically, filibustering will be futile thanks to the legacy of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who invoked the nuclear option in 2013. Now all the current Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) needs to do is expand the rule change in medias res to include Supreme Court nominations.

From an objective standpoint, Democrats threatening to primary vulnerable Senate Democrats to just allow a vote for a Supreme Court Associate Justice seems counter-intuitive. The Scalia replacement would not drastically change the balance of the court, so why come out with guns blazing against your own for a goal which is note a game changer.

Although Democrats only need to garner three net seats to regain control of the Senate, they face a tough election cycle in 2018 with 23 of 33 seats up. Incumbents have a much easier time fund raising and winning general elections, so why take out your own (even if they stray from the party line on some issues)? Furthermore, ten of the Senate races are Democrats in states that voted strongly for President Trump. Threatening to primary Democrat incumbents pushes them further to the left, which was not were the vox populi seems to be in those states.

If opposition from the left seems too strident, some incumbents like Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) might conclude that the grass is greener on the other side of the aisle. Even if they do not politically defect, they may be emboldened to vote their conscience to keep their integrity or burnish their independence from a progressive purge to keep their seat.

It would seem prudent for progressives to not play hardball on this Supreme Court nomination but fight like hell if a senior liberal Associate Justice (like 83 year old Ruth Ginsburg or 78 year old Stephen Breyer) or majority maker 80 year old Anthony Kennedy decided to retire. But it seems that progressives do not want to leave any powder in reserve for such a contingency.

Even though objections to the Scalia replacement were packaged as being objections to Garland's no vote or automatically opposing President Trump's pick, it seems that progressives are concerned that reversing Roe v. Wade and throwing the adjudication of abortion back to the states is at stake.